Since I went out and bought a Stash of Ash, again..

15 planks, some good, and some not so good.  $25.....

 

In our Living Room, the couch sits almost against the south wall...there is the Boss' Wheel Chair that she doesn't use any more...and about at least a foot of space between the Back of the couch and the wall,,

 

Thinking about a "Sofa Table" that can sit back there..maybe a lamp or 2 on it..

 

Most of the tables in the house are Shaker STYLE tables...may go that way or...maybe try a Mission Style sort of thing ( Daughter stole the last one I made..and painted it BLACK!)

 

Won't have any room to open any drawers...and not sure about a shelf down near the feet...

 

Top will be a glue up, and so will the legs..

 

letting the Stash get used to the house....

 

Stay tuned...

23 hours ago, steven newman said:

( Daughter stole the last one I made..and painted it BLACK!)

I hope you disowned her!

@steven newman Are you finding ASH to be any more in surplus or cheap due to the EAB rolling through the last several years?  I figure someday it will be like Chestnut lumber,..only occasionally found here and there and repurposed. 

Friend of mine has a woods...and they cut down an Ash tree a year or 2 BEFORE the bugs got here... he and another friend that happened to have a mill..went "Halves" on the Lumber....and it has sat in a barn since....

 

Laundry Detail, today....means I usually hang around in the shop, while waiting on the Washer to get done...

 

Today MIGHT be blanks for the 4 legs...we'll see...

Ok...Laundry Detail, today...hauled the Hamper to the Laundry room/ shop...hauled a couple loads of shavings/ sawdust/scraps to the Fire Pit, to get that dried out...

As it was half full of water, this morning, dumped that out..and started to get things dried out...on the way to get the second load of Burnables...

Blanks for Table legs...working around all the bad spots

As I am not a "Fan" of live edges...I did get 6 blanks for the legs..need to cut 2 more..

And did a bit of glue up...

1st 2, and..

Blanks were ripped to 2" width..and at least 32" long...which left..

Enough blanks for a few short stretchers...we'll see...

 

Lunch Break, while the Clothes Dryer does it's thing...

Stay tuned..

Over-full trash can was hauled from the shop, this evening..with half going here...

While the rest sit and waits..

Once the first batch burns down a bit....there is another can still in the shop...about a quarter full...that MIGHT be hauled up here, too...

 

Planks #3 and #4 have arrived IN the shop...clothes are out of the dryer, and the hamper has been hauled/walkered upstairs...

need my tablesaw back...tomorrow...

Stay tuned...

I have grown to like Ash. Looking forward to seeing the end product 

Well tardy for this session too. Good start on your part. Take lots of breaks so I can try to keep up.

Well..legs have been in and out of the clamps..need to clean them up, and try to square them up..

Ends need cut square..and all to the same length..

Then all 4 faces needed planed...

Regardless of any "Difficult Grain"   

Even the rough sawn faces were smoothed down..

 

Plane is a Stanley No. 6c..from WW2 era...still has it's original iron, too..The No. 8c was a bit too HUGE, for this job..

So..I went with the #6c...

Finally got all 4 legs done..

Needed a new Bandsaw blade..old one was getting way too DULL..so

had to blow out the insides of the bandsaw,,set the table square to the blade..

And make sure the Insert was NOW flush with the top of the table..because...once I mark a start/stop line at the "top" of the leg..

@ 5"..all the way around..then take that steel Yard Stick..

From the start line, lay out a taper..to leave a 3/4" foot at the other end..

Try to leave the line, at least...rotate and repeat...and let a plane take over..

Millers Falls No. 15, Type 3...same age as the No. 6c...Plane until all the saw marks are gone..

The No. 6c was a bit too long for this job...once both tapers are planed smooth..one more task..

"T" is for Taper...as sometimes it gets hard to see which is and which isn't tapered..

One leg done..

"Only" 3 more to do...

Stay tuned 

 

Looking good Steve. Should make a beautiful table!

I'm a big big fan of ash.  Not the face of it so much, but the side grain linear parallel growth rings.  When you want a dark piece from light wood one of the nicest looks is ebonized quarter sawn ash.  Better yet a mix of ebony and dark english walnut stain with tung oil to seal it in then maybe a wax.  While I personally like ash with a natural finish, it is one of only a few hardwoods I'd happily let a student put a dark stain on.    

 

Looking forward to seeing the final table. Sofa tables with drawers and shelves only make sense when the sofa isn't against a wall.  At best a drawer or two sliding out one or both ends might prove useful.

4D

Edited July 18, 20241 yr by 4DThinker

All 4 legs have been tapered and planed smooth

Was undecided about one taper...

which is why there is an "extra" "T"

 

hauled these 2 planks to the shop..

These 2 came from the same 10' long plank...that was cut down to fit in my car..apparently, there was an issue going through a planer..sniped end

And other issues...decided to get rid of the sniped end, and match the shorter plank...could not access the tablesaw...we have ways

At least the saw can cut straight..

The square was going off the curved edge

 

Test fit the 2 planks together..

Somewhere around 10" in width...and I need it to be 12"?  and, by the time I remove a few defects...

And straighten out a few edges...I'm going to need about 3" of filler, between the 2..will have to sort through the stash of Ash..looking for grain that matches these 2...

 

Once I get the top done, I can size the aprons and try a glue up of the base..

 

Stay tuned..

Coming right along Bandit.

Found a match ( This batch of Ash all came from the same tree, BTW)...except...there is a split running right down the middle of the board...at an angle...left less than 3" at either end..Ripped out the middle, after I had jointed one edge...and kept the wider of the 2 "good" strips..

 

Then went to run the No. 8c jointer....only to find out..the "Stern" was sitting on the Dryer behind me, and lifting the toe enough that the plane could not get a good head of steam...went back to the No. 6c..

Goal being to get one edge straightened out..

 

54" long runway..used that steel yard stick to find all the high AND low spots..test for gaps..

Once there wasn't any gaps, ran this one through the tablesaw, against the rip fence..trying to peel off as little as I could...repeat for the other wide plank..

Dry fit a few times..

Until no gaps were found...then the clamps, glue and cauls showed up...had to rotate the mess a bit..

one pipe clamp under, and 2 over...started with the center one, first...make sure things are flat..tighten the first clamp..then the same with the other 2...needed a hammer to "adjust"  a high spot...down on this end..so cauls were added to keep things flat..

Down at the other end..no hammer needed, just cauls..

once the pipe clamp was tightened down...

 

Will let this sit a day or 3...at least I can ( Barely) stand it up and off in a corner, somewhere...

 

Right now, that panel measures 3/4" x 11-1/2" x 53-1/2"...will trim the edges down to around 48-50" length..will have to live with the width..was hoping for 12".

 

At least, once I get the tablesaw back, I can size the aprons and the stretchers....and start building the base for this top..those cauls? 2 of the better looking ones will get used as stretchers and the other 2 will become corner braces...

 

Stay tuned 

20 hours ago, steven newman said:

These 2 came from the same 10' long plank...that was cut down to fit in my car..apparently, there was an issue going through a planer..sniped end

 

Hey Steven, great start on the project.

Did you note what that planer was?  I still have these new knives sitting here... coulda dropped them off a couple weeks ago

Planer belongs to the guy that sold me the Lumber...

Ok..up date time..clamps are off..one end trimmed square..

Using a Vintage saw, of course..

Measure down 50", reset the saw guide..

And trim this end square...then rotate 90 degrees...and sand and level the Show Face..

Not too hateful?

Flip this over to find...

So...sand and smooth this too..

Same view as before...hauled a plank to the shop...as I needed 2 long apron blanks..

If'n you think this end was ugly..wait one...

Handsome, isn't it?

 

Cut the 2 bad ends off..then found a center point between the good edge, and the wainy edge..and did a bit of ripping..

I also ripped the blank for the end aprons to the same width...

The 2 long ones wanted to curl a bit, we have ways..

Clamp to flatten out the bows..the 2 shorties?

were cross cut for length, as these 2 will be on the ends..

Figured that was enough for one evening...

 

Stay tuned..I even worked on a Monday!

Working on a Monday?

 

Wanted to get some Tenons milled...so..set up the tenon maker..

Working on the short aprons , first...check the fit..

Short Aprons needed flattened a bit..

That should do the trick..then decided to run a bead..

Then repeat for the Long Aprons...which also needed planed smooth..

Yes, I drilled a hole into the tenons, to hold parts to the bench while I was running beads...once the tenon is IN the mortise....only the glue will see that hole..

 

Once again, the long aprons wanted to curl...back into the clamps again

 

maybe tomorrow..I can reset the Mortise jig, and start chopping mortises...

 

Stay tuned 

 

 

On 7/19/2024 at 8:24 AM, steven newman said:

Planer belongs to the guy that sold me the Lumber...

 

Sounds like you get some use out of it.  Maybe trade new knives for a couple pieces of lumber? 

Tenons need Mortises to call home...Mortise Jig needed reset...from the 3/4" width to the 1-1/2" width of the legs...one of the jaws was split..decided since I had to move one jaw, anyway....figured I would replace the split jaw, as well..

This time, I'll pre-drill and counter-sink.   Clamp the jig, the leg, and a new jaw into the bench vise..2 screws to attach the new jaw..

Flip over and install right on top of the bench's leg...( No Bounce Zone)...

with a few screws, counter-sunk as well. ( once this job is done, and BEFORE the next..I intend to replace the base)

Slide the leg into the jig..

Do the lay out work...Stanley No. 77 Mortise Gauge helped out..no, the mortise is not supposed to be centered...

Slide the leg back into the jig, and get ready to chop..

 

Hammer and chisels...Narex 6mm...Aldi's Wide...and dig down to 3/4" deep..

Wide chisel to pare the side walls, until the tenon fits..dry fit needed a mallet, BTW..

Repeat for a second leg..and then a dry fit of both legs...

No glue (yet) and no clamps...2 mortises done, only 6 more to do..

Stay tuned